Reet is a small and quiet village not far from the highway that links Brussels to Antwerpen. When driving through it, one wouldn’t expect a Michelin-starred restaurant nested here, but the proximity and nearly equal distance to 2 big cities naturally justifies its location, and I wouldn’t say that this village with its elegant brick houses is lacking charm.

It is within a former rectory which rather resembles a château-like mansion that Bart de Pooter and his wife Marie-Claire have found a home for their restaurant De Pastorale. This sounds very conservative at first, but one realizes quickly that this classic building is actually an elegant container for modernism. A first indicator of this dualism is given by a modern bronze statue at the entrance which emits a laughing sound once you pass by. Read the rest of this entry »

A week ago I spontaneously decided to hurry to Berlin on Sunday for attending the “Gala Grosser Weine”, a wine presentation organized by a local wine store where many top German and international winemakers were presenting their products. It was a great event! Out of the German winemakers I already knew many and previously tried their wines at more close by presentations and thus the core attractions to me were big international names like Giacosa, Château Canon, Ridge, Moric or even Château La Nerthe. Can you understand my excitement? Read the rest of this entry »